In the News Weekly Roundup: Los Angeles Times Wins First Amendment Fight

Comings and Goings

Locke Lord: Paulette Brown is now a senior partner and chief diversity and inclusion officer at the firm, Locke Lord announced July 12. Brown is a past president of the American Bar Association, and was the first woman of color to lead the organization. “Paulette’s commitment to, and groundbreaking work on behalf of, diversity and inclusion has made an important and critical difference to our Firm and throughout the country,” Locke Lord Chair David Taylor said in a press release.

Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds: Gene A. Lang is joining the firm as an associate, where he will practice in life sciences patent preparation. Lang joins the firm after his time at the University of Texas-Houston MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he was a pre-doctoral research fellow and developed models of human cancer in mice. "Gene has exceptional patent prosecution experience, plus significant work on due diligence investigations, and on infringement and invalidity opinions, which will serve our clients well,” John L. DuPré, Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds president, said in a release.

Awards and Honors

Eversheds Sutherland: Mark D. Herlach was named the chairman of the British-American Business Association, the firm reported July 10. Herlach, a partner in the firm’s Energy and Infrastructure Practice Group, previously chaired BABA’s Energy and Environment Committee and recently served as its vice president. “Mark’s deep experience in international trade and investment matters combined with his long-standing commitment to BABA make him an exceptional choice for Chairman,” Mark D. Wasserman, Sutherland’s Co-CEO, said in a press release.

Petro Cohen: The workers compensation and personal injury law firm awarded a $10,000 scholarship to one fortunate New Jersey Institute of Technology student July 18. Through a partnership with Kids Chance of New Jersey, this is now the fifth scholarship the firm has bestowed on an area student who has lost a family member to a work-related injury. Scott Kwiatek, the recipient of the scholarship and former First Aid Squad volunteer, spoke proudly of his achievements in a press release put out by Petro Cohen.

“I am very grateful for the generous scholarship that Petro Cohen Law Firm and the Kids’ Chance organization have provided to me and am looking forward to graduation,” Kwiatek said.

Stoel Rives: Krista K. McIntyre, a partner who leads the firm’s Environment, Land Use and Natural Resources group, was elected a fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers. The firm announced McIntyre’s award in a press release July 16. John C. Cruden, president of the ACOEL, praised the attorneys selected this year: “These individuals, chosen by their peers, have earned this recognition based on achievements over a minimum 15-year period, during which they have led the field in diverse areas of environmental law and policy. Our Honorary Fellows are the preeminent practitioners with decades of work on environmental issues. The College is honored to have this distinguished class join its ranks.”

Industry News

Davis Wright Tremaine: A debate over the First Amendment raged on the West Coast this week as legal scholars, a federal judge, and the Los Angeles Times squared off in appeals court. The controversy began after the 136-year-old paper published information regarding a former police detective’s plea deal—information that had been sealed and was made public accidentally. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter made the order for the information to be removed from The Times’ website, though in the days that followed the same information spread to other outlets across the internet.

“This is the cat-is-out-of-the-bag principle, which in fact is how some courts have referred to it,” Eugene Volokh, UCLA law professor and First Amendment expert, said to the Los Angeles Times about the incident. Days after the information was taken down, the judge lifted the order and the article was restored. Kelli Sager was one of the attorneys to represent The Times.